FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2014
BOARD OF DIRECTORS & SUSTAINING MEMBERS
Executive Directors
Pat O’Shaughnessy
Vermilion County Title
Chairperson
Vicki Haugen
Vermilion Advantage, NFP
President/CEO
Jim Picillo
Mervis Industries
First Vice Chairperson
Jeff Fauver
First National Bank of Catlin
Vice Chairperson
Deanna Witzel
DND Witzel Enterprises
Past Chairperson
T.J. Morris
Iroquois Federal
Secretary
Bob Boesdorfer
First Midwest Bank
Treasurer
Lou Mervis
Vermilion Development
Director
Jim Mulvaney
First Financial Bank
Director
Bob Ervin
Aqua Illinois
Director
Tonya Hill
Old National Bank
Director
Harry Brockus
Carle
Director
Paul Kero
Watchfire Signs
Director
Directors
Jim Anderson
Jim Bailey
Steve Barkley
Mike Brown
Mike Bryant
Butch Buesing
Angele Burns
Dean Carlton
Michelle Chesnut
David Clapp
Linda Darby
Mark Denman
Scott Eisenhauer
Rick Elkin
J.R. Fregia
Michael Frerichs
Rod Golden
Michael Gregory
Mario Gropp
Chris Hanson
Chad Hays
Kenny Head
Rose M. J. Henton
Mike Hulvey
Brad Irle
Dr. Alice M. Jacobs
Robert Jennings
Beverly Joyce
Chris Kittell
Larry Kuchefski
Jim LaFoe
Todd Lee
Gail Lewis
Mike Marron
Sean McBride
Don Mettler
Ray Morgan
Larry Moss
Phil Muehl
Jeanne Mulvaney
Dan Nobbe
Jim Owens
Gary Peacock
Judd Peck
Jim Pound
John Reed
Jerry Rice
Japhet Rivera
Dr. Jared Rogers
Todd Schultz
Kay Smoot
Jeff Summers
Auston Suprenant
Jeff Tate
Paul Tatman
Dawn Taylor
Tricia Teague
Jesus Tome
Mike Weese
Gary Weinard
Rob Williams
Richard Woodard
Julie Zimmerman
Vermilion Co. Community Development. Corp.
IBEW
Ameren IP
ThyssenKrupp Crankshaft
Danville Family YMCA
Bryant Industries
Schomburg & Schomburg
East Central IL Community Action Agency
Heritage Development Services, Inc.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Full-Fill Industries, LLC
Trigard/Greenwood, Inc.
Danville Dist. #118
City of Danville
Heartland Properties
Courtesy Ford
Illinois State Senator
CCMSI
NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc.
ThyssenKrupp Presta Danville, LLC
White Construction, Inc.
Illinois State Representative
Bunge Milling, Inc.
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Neuhoff Family Broadcasting
T.H. Snyder Co.
Danville Area Community College
Vermilion Co. Mayors’ Council
Commercial News
Raymond James Financial
Coldwell Banker Commercial
The Sygma Network
Danville Sanitary District
Schlarman Academy
Vermilion County Farm Bureau
ERH Enterprises, Inc.
Meijer
Alcoa, Inc.
Automation International, Inc.
CliftonLarsonAllen, LLC
United Way of Danville Area
Fiberteq
Westville C.U. Dist. #2 Supt.
Covington Foods/County Market
Danville Metal Stamping Co., Inc.
Christie Clinic
The News Gazette
McLane Midwest Co., Inc.
Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System
Presence USMC
Sully Schultz Nursery, Inc.
Retired Executive
Media One Visual Arts
DTI Office Solutions
First National Bank of Georgetown
Retired
Sleepy Creek Vineyards
Plethora Publishing
Viscofan USA, Inc.
Village of Westville
Vermilion County Board
KIK Custom Products
Woodard’s Computing Services
Genpact
e-mail: contact@vermilionadvantage.com
http://www.vermilionadvantage.com
Contact:
Vicki Haugen, Vermilion Advantage
217-442-6201
vhaugen@vermilionadvantage.com
Doug Dawson, Dawson Logistics
217-516-2115
dougd@dawson-team.com
David George, International Greenhouse
217-709-1827
David.george@igcusa.com
74 EASTGATE BUSINESS PARK NET TWO NEW BUSINESS
EXPANSIONS
After years of waiting for two key buildings in the 74 Eastgate
Business Park to be cleared for sale, two local businesses have taken
advantage of the opportunity and will soon add their signs and
employment to this industrial area. Dawson Logistics has purchased 122
Eastgate, originally built by Esco Corporation and International
Greenhouse has purchased 70 Eastgate, built and occupied by Herr’s for
many years.
“While these buildings have been available for lease over the
last many years by a capital group, for complicated financing
reasons involving other non-local properties, these buildings were
just recently cleared for sale. It has been very frustrating to have
these assets sitting as two of our billboards to the interstate and
basically not being able to do anything productive with them. The
purchase of both of these facilities is a wonderful opportunity for
the community and both of the local family-owned businesses,” said
Vicki Haugen, President & CEO of Vermilion Advantage.
Dawson Logistics has two logistics contracts with local
companies in the Danville area and will use the facility to provide storage
and distribution. In total the company occupies over 500,000 SF of
logistics space at four other locations within Vermilion County. Doug
Dawson, President and CEO, is ecstatic about the opportunity. “122
Eastgate has been a facility of great interest to me for several years.
The location, ceiling height, condition and office space has made it
a building which fits well in our local and national growth model.
We have been in discussion with the owners and have made offers
on the building over the last five years. We are pleased we are now
able to add this location to our expanding network of logistics
centers nationwide,” said Dawson. The company employs 175
companywide and 35 full time employees in Vermilion County.
-more-
Vermilion Advantage, NFP
217-442-6201
15 North Walnut Street
800-373-6201
Danville, Illinois 61832
Fax: 217-442-6228
David George, President of International Greenhouse Corporation (IGC) shares a similar
enthusiasm about his purchase of 70 Eastgate. “The nationwide market place for our business
means that we could be located anywhere. However, the low cost of doing business in Danville
and our excellent local staff made staying here a no-brainer. After the most recent spring
selling season it became obvious that both our Sacramento and Tilton facilities were at
capacity. Since our roots are firmly planted in Danville, a search began this summer to
purchase or lease space to accommodate our continued growth. For over 18 years we have
sunk our roots deep into Vermilion County and both our ownership and staff are committed to
making this wonderful community an even better place to live and work,” said George. The
company current has 25 full-time employees. You can find more information at www.igcusa.com
More about these companies.
About Dawson Logistics
Other facilities currently occupied by Dawson Logistics in Vermilion County at this time include
the following:
1315 Michigan Avenue- a campus comprised of three buildings. One building is leased to a
local company and the other two are industrial mini-storage units being leased to individuals and
various businesses.
800 S. Gilbert – serves as a storage and distribution of raw materials for two local companies
and is Dawson’s newest location in Vermilion county second to 122 Eastgate.
714 W. Ross Lane – a dedicated logistics facility serving a local company who provides
outsourcing manufacturing services for aerosol packing, cosmetics, pharma and cleaning products.
1813 E. Voorhees – used for storing escalators and elevators for a multi-national organization.
However, Dawson just signed a new multi-year logistics contract for this client and per the client’s
requirement, the new facility will be located in Cincinnati, OH. The transition began in June and is to be
completed by the end of 2014.
Doug Dawson and Josh Hobick, both Vermilion County natives, began with our first warehouse
in Danville in 2003 and have continued to grow year after year in Vermilion County since that time.
According to Dawson, “Vermilion County will always be home to us. Our local workforce is
second to none and our commitment to exceeding customers’ expectations every time on every
touch has been the launching pad for local and national growth. We provide white glove
customized logistics services in addition to being the market leader in pharma and perishable
emergency response delivery service space.” The company currently services all of the U.S.,
Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. Sister companies held within the Dawson Group Holding Company
include:
Dawson Management LLC, which provides legal, Human Resource, Finance and IT support to other
Dawson companies;
“Connote Marketing, LLC” – a sports marketing company providing event marketing for high school,
collegiate and professional sporting events;
Carter Disposal – a Vermilion County-based waste hauling company;
-more-
Partycoffins.com – a new company recently launched within the last 45 days that converts real caskets to
entertainment/tailgating units including custom coolers, flat screen TV, Dish Network service, XM radio, surround
sound speakers and Bluetooth ready. The company has been profiled on Forbes, Fox sports, ABC, NBC and
IHeart Radio.
About International Greenhouse (IGC)
IGC was established in 1993 as a greenhouse contractor and initially operated out of the
founder, David George Sr.’s, home office in Seattle, Washington. Much of IGC’s early days were spent
building greenhouse projects in emerging economies such as India and China, well before it became
commonplace to conduct business there. In addition to international sales, IGC began to construct
many domestic projects and Dave Sr. enlisted two of his sons to help manage and conduct these
construction projects.
IGC continued on a healthy and rapid rate of growth through all of the next decade. In the mid90s, the ability to do business anywhere provided by the Internet allowed Dave Sr. to move the
company back to his boyhood home of Sidell here in Vermilion County and by the early 2000s IGC had
grown enough to move out of Dave Sr.’s home and into its own offices. At about the same time, IGC
began offering containers and other items for sale through its website. This focus on Internet sales saw
IGC grow exponentially despite the founder’s untimely death in 2002. The growth continued to force
relocation and expansion, first to a building in Georgetown in 2004 and then in 2008 to the current
facility at 1644 Georgetown Road in Tilton. This leap in growth took them from 6,000 to 30,000 SF.
In 2013, IGC opened their first satellite warehouse and sales office in Sacramento, California to
better serve their west coast customers and expand their warehousing capabilities which were already
becoming tight only five years into their move in Tilton.
This purchase of 70 Eastgate and growth from 30,000 SF to 87,000 SF now opens the door for
even greater expansion opportunity for IGC. Renovations are already moving forward with hopes to
fully occupy the new space by the end of 2014. Additional plans are being made to increase stocking
capability that will allow IGC to explore additional lines to expand their product portfolio.
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